Community

“The art of writing on the discussion board is to keep the conversation going.”

Discussion board writing may be new to you. What makes good discussion board writing? How should you operate in that space?

This is a shared learning environment. As such, there are a few rules for participating in the LangCred discussion board and comments.

Rules of Netiquette* for Online Discussion Boards

*etiquette for the net

Adapted from Touro College’s Online Education Department

Respect the opinions of others in the online community. If you feel the need to disagree, do so respectfully and acknowledge the valid points in other’s argument. Acknowledge that others are entitled to have their own perspective on the issue.

Check the most recent comments before you reply to an older comment, since the issue might have already been resolved or opinions may have changed.

Before asking a question, check the website FAQs or search the internet to see if the answer is obvious or easy to find.

If you reply to a question or topic, make sure your answer is accurate! If you’re not 100% sure, do not guess! Otherwise, you could really mess things up for others and they will not appreciate it.

Stay on topic – Do not post irrelevant links, comments, thoughts, or pictures.

Use lowercase letters. Did you know that using ALL CAPS implies you are shouting at someone online?

Do not write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic, even as a joke, because without hearing your tone of voice, your peers might not realize you are joking.

Be brief. If you write a long dissertation in response to a simple question, it is unlikely that anyone will spend the time to read through it all.

If you refer to something someone else said earlier in the discussion, quote just a few key lines from their post so that others will not have to go back and figure out which post you are referring to.

Rule of thumb: If you would not do or say something in real life, do not do it online either.